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Citizenship

Belgian citizenship can either be granted or procured, according to the Belgian national code. Often, minors are granted citizenship automatically; they become Belgian by parentage, adoption, or by being born in Belgium. Procuring citizenship, however, requires the following procedures:

Declaration procedure

After all the documents have been assembled together in the municipality, the prosecution makes a decision on the applicant’s case. If the applicant meets all the legal requirements, they will be granted the right to Belgian citizenship. In a situation where the prosecution rejects their request for citizenship, the applicant can appeal to the court.

Naturalization

The Belgian Chamber Committee on Naturalizations deals with the request. At the moment, this procedure is only applicable to exceptional situations and citizenship is awarded based on merit e.g. the applicant has some exceptional abilities in science, sports, or sociocultural areas. The naturalization procedure often lasts much longer than the declaration process. If the commission rejects the request, an appeal cannot be made.